Write your business rulebook for Ai: a fill-in template

A brand-new Ai chat has never seen your business, so it guesses. This page helps you write down how your business works, one time, so it stops guessing.

Set aside 20 minutes. It's free, and you don't need any tech skills.

Write down the things that rarely change: who does what, how long things take, and your rules.

Leave out numbers that change every day, like who owes you money. Those are wrong by tomorrow.

Don't put passwords, bank details or customers' personal details in it.

Copy this into a document and fill in the blanks. Short answers are fine. Skip anything that doesn't fit your business.

OUR BUSINESS RULEBOOK

Business name: ________
What we do: ________ (example: kitchen and bath remodels in Las Vegas)
Our hours: ________
Things we never do, no matter who asks: ________ (example: no jobs on Sundays)

1. QUOTES
Who writes our quotes: ________
What we need before we can write a quote: ________ (example: a site visit and photos)
Where we keep our quotes: ________
How quotes get to the customer: ________
How soon a quote goes out: ________

2. SCHEDULING JOBS
Who books jobs and visits: ________
What we need to know before we book: ________ (example: the address and what's broken)
Where we keep our schedule: ________
How customers find out when we're coming: ________
How far ahead we usually book: ________

3. SENDING INVOICES
Who sends our invoices: ________
What has to happen before we send one: ________
Where we make our invoices: ________
How invoices get to the customer: ________
How soon after a job we send it: ________

4. GETTING PAID
Who follows up when a customer hasn't paid: ________
When we call a bill late: ________ (example: after 30 days)
How customers pay us: ________
How we remind someone who hasn't paid: ________
How long we wait before reminding them: ________

5. FOLLOWING UP
Who follows up on quotes nobody answered: ________
How we keep in touch with past customers: ________
When we give up on a quote: ________
How we follow up: ________ (example: a phone call)
How long we wait before following up: ________

6. REVIEWS
Who asks customers for reviews: ________
Who answers our reviews: ________
Where we want reviews: ________
How we ask: ________
When we ask: ________

Anything else our Ai should know: ________

A project is a folder for chats that share the same files. It works on the free plan.

1. 01Save your filled-in rulebook as a document.
2. 02In ChatGPT, make a new project and name it after your business.
3. 03Add your rulebook to the project as a file.The free plan allows up to 5 files in a project.
4. 04Start your business chats inside that project, so they can use the file.

Claude has projects too, and free accounts can use them.

1. 01Save your filled-in rulebook as a document.
2. 02In Claude, make a new project.Free accounts can make up to 5 projects.
3. 03Add your rulebook to the project's files.
4. 04Start your business chats inside that project, so they can use the file.

ChatGPT and Claude each have a setting for whether your chats can be used to improve their models. Check it, and turn it off if you'd rather they didn't.

• ChatGPT:Settings, then Data controls, then "Improve the model for everyone."
• Claude:Settings, then Privacy, then the model improvement setting.

Open a new chat in the project and ask the question below. If the answer matches your rulebook, it worked.

Use my rulebook file. What do we never do, and who writes our quotes?

• Change it the day a rule changes: a new hire, new hours, a new price.
• Read it over once a month.
• When you upload a new version, remove the old one, so your Ai doesn't read both.

Your rules stay true. Your numbers don't. Who owes you money, which quotes are still waiting, what's booked this week: those change every day, and a file you wrote last week can't know.

That's what a Company Core does. It connects to your calendar, invoices and quotes, read-only, keeps up as they change, and asks you about anything it can't work out.